During the 2009 and 2010 seasons, his first two years as the Denver Broncos' starting running back, he'd take the handoff and tap furiously. He’d burst forward and into the backside of a blocker. Or he’d forgo decent holes, waiting for the perfect gap that never arrived behind an offensive line undergoing a youth movement.

Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno has rushed for 100 yards in each of the past two weeks, the first time he has had back-to-back 100-yard games in his four-year career. (AP Photo)

Sometimes, he'd decide when to burst only to have the hole close before he accelerated. Other times, he'd make no decision and was summarily corralled in the backfield. He averaged 4.02 yards per carry in 2009-10, a figure more often associated with an aging veteran nearing the end of his functional career rather than the first running back off the board in his year’s draft.

The one that burst off right tackle and into the open field Sunday at Baltimore bore scant resemblance to the Moreno of his younger years. The jersey number and helmet atop his head was the same; everything else had been transformed. So when Ed Reed, the best safety of his era loomed, Moreno had barely a split-second to decide what to do. Running at him seemed futile; he was already squared up for a form tackle. Tapping his feet and slowing up would have simply ended the play. Cutting to the left or right wouldn't have done much good either as Moreno was flanked by Ravens defensive backs Jimmy Smith and James Ihedigbo.

So he didn’t dance. Moreno leaped over Reed instead.

“I don't even remember doing that,” Moreno said, chuckling. “I don't expect to do that. You don't even want to do that too much. It's just instincts taking over. It just happens.”

No one play in recent weeks encapsulated Moreno’s renaissance like that one. It added seven yards to a run that was his longest of a 118-yard performance that gave him his second 100-yard game in 11 days — just as many as he had in the previous three and a half years.

In replacing the injured Willis McGahee, Moreno isn’t even the best comeback story on his team, yet his recent resurgence might have been even more likely than Peyton Manning's. Like Manning, Moreno had to bounce back from a severe injury. In his case, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in 2011. But unlike Manning, Moreno had to overcome a precipitous decline in status, from starter and franchise back to eight consecutive games on the Broncos’ inactive list earlier this season.

After missing a blitz pickup that led to a sack in Week 1 and losing a fumble in Atlanta eight days later, Moreno was relegated to fourth string and became nothing more than an expensive insurance policy. He toiled on the scout team, largely forgotten as the Broncos began building momentum. But inside the locker room, teammates saw something different. Moreno wasn’t beaten down by his most recent and humbling demotion.

“He wasn't forgotten with us. He'd been kicking our tail on defense,” linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. “That's part of the reason why we've been so good in our run defense, because the looks that he gave us.

"It's like, 'Dude, as soon as you get your chance, you're going to explode.' ”

With 391 yards in four starts since replacing McGahee — who can’t return until the AFC Championship Game if the Broncos get that far—Moreno's done just that.

“There was a time he could’ve gotten frustrated or discouraged or whatever word you want to use,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “But he stayed positive. He kept working. This game’s about getting your opportunity and then taking advantage of it when you get it.”

It was an opportunity that many Broncos fans didn’t want him to have.

For three and a half years, Moreno seemed to symbolize all that had gone wrong for the Broncos. He was the target of fan criticism that went beyond what you'd expect for a first-round pick who didn't live up to expectations—mainly because he was the first draft pick of the doomed Josh McDaniels era.

Moreno remains the only running back taken with a first-round pick by the Broncos since Bobby Humphrey was a supplemental first-rounder in 1989, and when he was measured against a lineage of Broncos 1,000-yarders who emerged from humbler draft stock, he fell far short.

Other runners with lesser draft pedigrees outclassed Moreno. In the 2009 class alone, Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy went 41 picks later and Houston's Arian Foster wasn't drafted at all. Some fans called him “No-Show” Moreno, a derisive moniker that stuck. But fan ire was the least of his concerns.

As so much of the detritus from the McDaniels administration was discarded under Fox and John Elway after their January 2011 arrivals, there was reason to believe Moreno would be swept away, especially after they drafted Ronnie Hillman in the third round with the expectation he could provide a change of pace and a breather for McGahee, who turned 30 last year.

When Moreno was demoted in Week 3, Hillman took his spot and provided just enough relief for McGahee to keep Moreno off the field. Utility backup Lance Ball was also ahead of Moreno, mainly because he plays multiple special-teams roles, where Moreno handled none. All he could do was work on his game, continue working to read holes better, and keep his chin up.

“I never felt discouraged,” Moreno said. “I knew what my abilities were. At the same time, I was just waiting for my opportunities to come.”

At times earlier in his career, he could be an impatient runner. As he labored on the scout team, he learned how to correct that, in part because the experience forced him to be more patient in his demeanor than at any point in his career.

“I still have times when I get too juiced up and I do still hit it (the hole) too fast,” Moreno said. “Definitely from my first year, I always wanted to go so fast, but you've just got to read it, read your keys, and go slow to the ball and fast to the hole.”

Or fast to the safety before sailing over him. All that's missing is the dancing; Moreno doesn’t do that anymore. Except in the end zone.